Jose Mourinho has spoken of his regret at not leaving Chelsea for 'one of the greatest clubs in Europe' at the end of last season.

Mourinho parted company with the Stamford Bridge club last September, and has yet to return to management despite reported links with a number of high-profile posts.

The Portuguese is expected to make his anticipated comeback in 2009 after confirming his desire to coach in Italy or Spain.

However, Mourinho has revealed that he received an offer from a major European club at the end of the 2006/07 campaign, but rejected the approach - a decision he laments.

Mistake

"I made a mistake not to leave Chelsea at the end of last season," he said in the Daily Telegraph.

"I had an offer from one of the greatest clubs in Europe but I preferred to stay in London because I promised the fans that I won't leave on my own initiative, and four months later I was fired.

"Now I understand that I probably shouldn't have missed such an opportunity."

Mourinho went on to claim that he turned down an offer to manage England, explaining that he felt it was too early in his career to venture into international management.

"I had a very tempting offer [from England] but I rejected it," he continued.

"Yes. Working with a national team isn't interesting for me. I like training on a daily basis, games every week or even better three times a week.

"I'm not 60. I'm only 45. So it wasn't the point that it was team England. Working for any national team would mean rejecting something much more interesting."

Mourinho also insisted he feels no envy of Blues boss Avram Grant's achievement of taking Chelsea to the UEFA Champions League final - a feat the Portuguese could not manage during his time at the club.

Grant feat

"I do not accept such feelings," he said. "In my opinion only weak people, losers, have such feelings. So what if Chelsea win the Champions League? I won it too. So what if they win the Premier League or the cup? I won that too.

"Since I left the club I have never said a word about why. There are no problems between me and Roman Abramovich and our relations are completely clear. We keep in touch and we do not forget the time we worked together."

He added on Portugoal.net: "I think Chelsea deserve to win the final."